Coghlan G, et al. - The incidence of as well as determinants for the development of pulmonary hypertension (PH) was determined in this bicentric, prospective cohort study including patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and a DLCO < 60% predicted. During follow up, a progressive rise in pulmonary pressures was noted in a selected cohort of SSc patients with a DLCO < 60%. In this population using prospective right heart catheterization (RHC) during follow-up it was possible to identify manifest PH in almost 25% of 44 patients. Independent predictors for development of PH during follow-up included pulmonary vascular resistance, tricuspid regurgitation velocity, diffusion capacity and size of inferior vena cava at baseline. Regular clinical assessment including RHC might be useful in SSc-patients.